Thousands evacuated as India’s eastern coast braces for Cyclone Dana

Flights to and from the capitals of Odisha and West Bengal will be suspended from Thursday evening to Friday morning.

Authorities in India’s eastern states of Odisha and West Bengal are evacuating hundreds of thousands of people from coastal areas as a powerful cyclone approaches the region.

Cyclone Dana, currently over the Bay of Bengal, is expected to cross the coasts of the two states between midnight (18:30 GMT on Thursday) and Friday morning with wind speeds of 100-110km/h (62-68mph), gusting up to 120km/h (75mph), the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Odisha’s health minister Mukesh Mahaling told the AFP news agency that “nearly a million people from the coastal areas are being evacuated to cyclone centres”.

In neighbouring West Bengal, evacuations of more than 100,000 people have begun, said Bankim Chandra Hazra, a government minister.

The eye of the storm is predicted to make landfall early on Friday, near the coal-exporting port of Dhamara, about 230km (140 miles) southwest of West Bengal’s capital, Kolkata.

Flights to and from airports in the capitals of both states – including Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport – will be suspended from Thursday evening to Friday morning, officials said.

The IMD warned fishing crews to stay off the water. Television footage showed fishermen rushing to secure their straw homes and boats with rope.

Both states have closed schools in areas expected to bear the brunt of the storm.

Authorities in Odisha cancelled about 200 trains, according to local media reports.

Tourists in coastal areas of both states were told to leave beach resorts and move to shelters.

In Odisha’s city of Puri, tourists rushed to the railway station to leave, according to rail spokesman Kaushik Mitea.

Dana is also expected to impact neighbouring low-lying Bangladesh, where the leader of the interim government Muhammad Yunus said that “extensive preparations” are being made.

Severe storms lash coastal cities in India and Bangladesh during the cyclone season from April to December each year, causing extensive damage.

Odisha’s worst cyclone in recent years was in 1999, which raged for 30 hours and killed 10,000 people.

At least 16 people were killed when a cyclone lashed India and Bangladesh in May, packing speeds of up to 135km/h (84mph).

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Al Jazeera and news agencies